Thursday, March 01, 2012

Politics influences feelings about global warming

Recent Gallup polls show that Americans' concerns about global warming fluctuate. In 2004, 25 percent worried "a great deal" about climate change. In 2007 that number rose to 41 percent, but in 2010 it dropped to 28 percent, John Wihbey of Journalist's Resource reports.

Why this fluctuation? According to a 2012 study by Drexel University, McGill University and Ohio State University, "The most significant driver of public opinion on climate change was a battle between partisan elites over the issues," Wihbey writes. And an investigation of weather events revealed weather events had no "significant effect on public concerns about global warming," Wihbey reports.

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